Crunching Numbers

"Caravi, is everything alright?" Zimot asked, entering the room a moment later.

Caravi spun around, the fleeting remains of his true expression reflecting his panicked terror. He hastily brushed a hand over his face before replying, his tone the complete opposite of what Zimot now knew Caravi felt.

"Of course it is." Caravi said easily. "Everything's fine."

"Everything is fine." Zimot repeated coolly.

"Yes, that's what I said. Everything's fine." Caravi replied, a slightly testy edge creeping back into his voice.

"Then why, Caravi," Zimot asked, leaning against the now closed door and subconsciously blocking the only exit to the room, "are your hand shaking and you're trying to hide something and failing?"

Caravi grimaced, thoroughly regretting ever letting Zimot join him in the first place. "It's fine," he repeated.

"Caravi." Zimot repeated allowing the slightest bit of impatience to slip into his tone.

Caravi glared at him. "They are after me because they want to knowledge that I alone hold. They see me as a walking science experiment. A science project that if allowed to happen, I'd be better off dead- as would the rest of the universe." He glanced at Zimot before turning back to adjust a variety of dials and controls, punching in the numbers of the coordinates and settings. "Are you happy now?"